Saskia's Story
by Almost an Actress
Summary: Saskia is a young husky from a broken home who lives on the streets with her best friend Noble and the Junkyard Dogs. When Bruno brings a new dog named Yarrow to the junkyard, he tells Sassy to take the husky under her wing. Yarrow is defiant, gutsy, and brave, everything Sassy is not. Together can the two become friends and even make a new life for themselves?
1. I'll Take Him Under My Wing

**Hi! I'm Almost an Actress, and I'm new to the Lady and the Tramp, but I couldn't resist it! Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**XXX**

I trotted through the town, eyeing the perfect houses. A little boy was out on the porch with his parents, playing with their six dogs. One appeared to be a cocker spaniel-type, with three little carbon copies of her. The other one was a gray mutt with a pup that looked like him. The last one I recognized from the Junkyard Dogs. _Angel. Ugh. She puts a bad taste in my mouth, _I thought. _She had all the freedom she could've wanted and she threw it all away for a cushy housedog life! _Deep inside though, I wanted the same thing. _If they have six dogs, maybe they'd be willing to take you, _I thought. I shook my head and gave a wry grin. _Wake up, Saskia. Like they'd take a mutt like you! _I continued down the streets, the sun setting behind me. The sky was washed orange and red, bathing my paws in the buttery light. I sat down on the sidewalk, looking up at the sunset. "They're waitin' for you, Saskia," I told myself, forcing myself to get and start running towards the junkyard. It was across town, so the stars were bejeweling the sky by the time I got there. I pawed at the chain link, whining.

"Sassy?" a voice said. From the shadows emerged my best friend Noble, a purebred Samoyed. Her giant fluffy coat stuck out at all angles. She stuck her nose through the chain link and sniffed. "Yep, it's you!" Noble wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, but she was sweet and loyal and, well… noble.

I grinned. "Hi Nobie!" I said, and began digging under the chain link.

"Too bad they make the newbies find their own way in," Noble said remorsefully. She looked genuinely concerned, but in truth it was a pain in the tail. Since I was new to the gang, they made me find my own way in and out of the junkyard, and would always fill in my holes to make it hard to get in and out again.

"It's fine, Nobie," I assured her with a smile. I squeezed under the chain link and shook my coat. As she filled in my hole, I looked around the dimly lit trash heaps. "Where is everybody?" I asked. I couldn't see any of the dogs, and briefly wondered if they were all hiding, waiting to scare me. That had happened more than once.

"They went on a recon mission!" Noble said excitedly, jumping a little bit and wagging her tail. Her lovely white fur was dirty.

I frowned, for once not infected by her insidious excitement. "Recon?" I repeated. "For what… food?"

She laughed. "Oh, Sassy. You have a lot to learn." We trotted over to our shelter, which Buster had assigned both of us to. It was an old baby buggy that we'd fixed so it had some soft things it in like feathers and blankets and pillows. I leaped up and turned around a few times before settling down and putting my nose on my paws. Maybe I could dream of having a home like that lucky Angel did. Just as I closed my eyes, I heard, "Saskia! What're you doing?!" come from Noble.

I opened my eyes and yawned. "Um… falling asleep?"

She leapt up into the buggy and grabbed me by my scruff, pulling me to the ground. "Oh, no you aren't! Whenever the other dogs come back from recon they assign us roles. I once fell asleep, and Buster really tanned my hide!" She shook her head and smiled a little at the memory. "I guess I should explain recon to you, huh?"

"Uh… sure?" I asked.

"Whenever our pop-u-lace gets down a little, the dogs go out and search for a new member. From the streets, usually, but sometimes they take puppies from doghouses and give them brand new lives. Like me!" She grinned a grin that looked so desperate I didn't bother correcting her on her pronunciation of "populace." With that desperate grin, she said, "Don't be sad, Sassy! I have a much better life here."

"But they take pups from houses?!" I cried. My tail drooped. "That's not right."

"Well-"

"NOBLE, SASKIA!" I heard. It was Bruno, the big Doberman. His black and brown pelt glittered in the starlight, and I could feel Noble shrink beside me. She had a strange mix of fear and love for Bruno, which I never could understand. We followed the sound of his cry to a part of the junkyard we called the Initiation Circle. We had cleared away all of the trash and old furniture so that there was a perfect clear circle. Bruno was holding a struggling pup in his jaws. He was about my age, and a husky like me. "This is Yarrow, everybody," he said, spitting the pup on the dusty ground.

Yarrow got up immediately and snarled, showing all of his teeth. "Let me go home, you big brute!" he growled.

Bruno laughed; all of us except for me and Noble did. He held up a paw and gave Yarrow a good whack, causing the small dog to fall over. "That's right," he said mockingly, "I'm a _big_. _Old_. _Brute_." He gave a chuckle. "And this Big Old Brute is gonna put you in your place, kid." He pointed a paw at himself. "I'm Bruno, the leader of this pack. You do what I tell you. Got it?"

Yarrow knew to keep his mouth shut, but just gave a defiant glare.

Before any of us could react, Yarrow was pinned under Bruno's paw and Bruno's teeth were at his throat. "I _said_: got it," he hissed. "I'm gonna ask you one more time: Got it?"

"Yes," Yarrow gasped. His crystal-blue eyes were wide with fear, and I imagined he'd be able to see them reflecting in Bruno's shiny white teeth. "Yes, I've got it!"

Bruno slowly took his crushing paw away from the pup's chest and retracted his teeth. He gave a smooth grin. "See?" he said with that smooth-as-silk grin. "Not so hard, right Yarrow?"

"No, Bruno," Yarrow muttered, defeated.

Bruno smiled and said, "I thought not." He introduced the rest of the gang in the pecking order. Noble was second to last. "This pretty little thing is Noble the Samoyed," Bruno said.

Noble smiled nervously and giggled. "Hi," she said brightly to the captured husky. "Noble." She stuck out a paw and Yarrow shook it.

"Last and most _certainly_ least is little Saskia," Bruno said, giving me an almost endearing look. He pushed me foreword with his paw. "I have a special assignment for you, cub."

I looked up at him. "What'd that be, Bruno?" I asked, my tongue ungluing.

He patted me on the head. "Since young Yarrow here is the same breed as you, I thought you could take him under your wing, so to speak. Think of it as your final initiation, kid. You'll finally be a Junkyard Dog. What do you say?"

For the most part, unless it was to criticize me or tell me to do something, Bruno usually ignored me. I was surprised and elated, and almost forgot about the innocent pups being taken from their homes. "Of course, Bruno!" I enthused, standing on my back legs with excitement.

He pushed Yarrow towards me, and I caught a malicious glint in his eye for the briefest second. "Then he's all yours, pup."

**Another Author's Note: Well, what'd you think? Please tell me! **


	2. You're Not Like The Rest

Yarrow paced back and forth, growling under his breath, "I gotta get out of here. I gotta get out of here." Under the moonlight his giant crystal-hued eyes glowed. We could have been twins with our matching black pelts and white undersides. Yarrow raised his head and finally seemed to notice me. "What do you want, _pawn_?" he challenged.

I had a feeling he was insulting me, but I knew how it felt to be scared and angry. Besides, Yarrow sort of fascinated me. I cocked my head. "What do you mean?" I asked curiously, making sure all of the other dogs were asleep. Yarrow and I had been assigned a new sleeping area. It was actually under a pile of trash where a little cave had been made. It was grubby, smelly, and damp, but I knew Bruno was testing me to see if I could stand it. All I wanted was to be accepted. I didn't much like some of the things Bruno did, but I knew he wanted to see if I was tough. Noble hadn't protested when we'd been designated our new sleeping area, but her eyes had flashed with pain. She knew I wouldn't spend as much time with her now.

"You're just a pawn in that big Doberman's game," Yarrow said quietly. "They all are. Especially your Samoyed friend. She's completely devoted to him. I can see it in her eyes." He scratched at the dirt with his paw, his brow furrowing. "But she's also afraid of him."

I nodded slowly. "You're more insightful than I thought." Immediately, I clamped my mouth shut. That had just come out. I hadn't meant to say it.

"Ditto," Yarrow said, looking me straight in the eyes. There was a brief spark between us, and we held each other's gazes for what seemed like an eternity. The moon was right behind us, and I was sure we looked almost magical, glowing. Finally, I broke my gaze away.

"G-go on," I stammered, flustered.

"Right," Yarrow said, seeming unfazed. "Well, she's obsessed with him. I can tell. She thinks he's the best thing in the world, yeah? Some sort of desperate hope that what he did to me wasn't wrong." He paused. "He probably took her from her home too, I bet. She's holding on to that hope that I mentioned before. So hysterically and desperately. She really thinks he did the best for her. Or… at least she's trying to convince herself."

I gaped. I'd thought this in my mind a million times, but to hear it come from another dog was shocking. "You're right," I whispered to myself. _What are you doing?! _I screamed in my thoughts. _You're loyal to Bruno! Get it together! _I shook my head. "I mean… unh… no. You're wrong about Noble. She may not be the brightest dog, but she's… well… noble. She's loyal to Bruno. J-just like me." I was lying through my teeth, and Yarrow could see it all.

"Your name is Saskia?" he asked. When I nodded, he nodded back. "I heard Bruno say it. Saskia... why? You know you hate that big brute. He's a brainwasher. A mind controller. He may have gotten Noble in his claws, but… I know he hasn't completely gotten you. At least not yet. C'mon. Don't lie to me, Saskia. Would you rather be sleeping in a warm home with people-folk who love you, or in a cold, wet dump with a bunch of dogs who don't take you seriously?" He waited for my reply, but didn't get one. "He took me, okay? I was in my doghouse sleeping, and suddenly I felt this huge set of jaws clamp around my neck. I couldn't even bark. I was so scared! I heard this horrible whispering voice, hissing, 'Don't make a sound, pup. We're taking you to your new home.' And before I knew it… I was dumped in this entire circle of dogs. They're broken-souled, Saskia!" He was getting more and more upset and animated, bouncing on his paws. "He took their free will and crushed it! He's doing it with your friend Noble! HE'S DOING IT TO YOU!"

I gaped. "N-no," I stammered. "Y-you're wrong." I took a deep breath and shook my coat. I wasn't doing to let this dog get under my skin. Bruno had put me in charge of him, and if I couldn't handle it, I'd never be a Junkyard Dog. I'd just be a meaningless stray on the streets, likely to get captured and put down, or run over by a cart. I steeled myself, feeling something inside me harden. Who did this pup think he was? He couldn't just come into my home and preach to me! _I_ knew what was right and what was wrong for me._ He_ was wrong, and _I_ was right. "I'm in charge of you," I snarled. "Bruno told me to take you under my wing. Don't let me regret it. Now get to the sleeping area and out of my sight. If you ever say anything like that again, I'll tell Bruno, and you'll be history." _So will I_, I added silently. If Bruno didn't think I could handle one measly dog, he'd probably kick me out… or worse.

Yarrow's tail sunk beneath his legs and he slunk off. "Wow… I thought you were different."

I gritted my teeth as the tears came.

**Author's Note: Sorry this chapter was a little shorter than usual, everyone. I just thought that this might be a good note to end on. Thank you so much to all the reviewers of this story. I really couldn't have done it without you guys! I might not be able to update as often because of play practice and homework, but I'm really trying my best for you guys! Some of my pony stories are on temporary hiatus, and I apologize. They WILL be updated soon; I promise. Anyway, enjoy! Review please! **

**My Sincerest Regards,**

**-Almost Novi**


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